How to stop Buffering on Kodi 17.3 with a Fire Stick

About Kodi & Buffering issues

In this post, well guide, we’re going to give you a few different methods for How to stop Buffering on Kodi 17.3. Although it works on all versions including 17.1 & 17.2. This guide is targeted towards those of you who use Kodi on a Fire Stick.

With Kodi becoming more and more popular among the masses, a large percentage of users will find themselves suffering from buffering issues. There are many reasons why you could be seeing buffering issues in Kodi, such as poor internet speeds, bad sources and even ISP throttling.

How to stop Buffering on Kodi 17.3

Now we’ll list a few simple methods that can help reduce buffering and increase stream quality in Kodi.

Clear your Kodi Cache on a Fire Stick

Clearing your cache can help relieve a lot of stress put on the Kodi platform. Follow the steps below to clear your Kodi cache and help stop buffering issues.

Go to the Fire Stick Home screen by pressing the Home button on your remote

Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications

Choose Kodi > Force Stop (if available) > Clear Cache

Run Kodi

By following these steps, you will have cleared your Kodi cache on the Amazon Fire Stick and helped reduce buffering issues when streaming Movies, TV Shows, IPTV and Live Sports!

Uninstall unnecessary Kodi add-ons

If you’re using a custom Kodi Build, chances are it’s going to be bloated with add-ons. We did a post showing some of the best builds for the Amazon Fire Stick. Anyhow, if you do find yourself with a bloated build, it’s time to remove some add-ons.

In Kodi, open Settings, and look for the add-ons menu. Find a way to navigate to your video add-ons. In here, you can open the context menu on each Kodi add-on and choose to uninstall them. Try to know which Kodi add-ons you do use and which ones you don’t.

Once you’ve removed them, this should reduce the amount of CPU usage for your Fire Stick and help stop buffering issues.

Uninstalling a Kodi add-on

Stop ISP throttling

It’s possible that your ISP could be throttling your connection. Internet Service Providers are known to reduce the bandwidth limit to certain programs and software, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be affecting your Kodi platform and be causing buffering issues.

One way to combat this is by using a VPN. PwrDown highly recommends using IPVanish VPN, as it’s tailored specifically towards Kodi users. Using IPVanish will also allow you to hide your IP Address, prevent your ISP from spying on you and keep your streaming habits safe. It works on the Amazon Fire Stick perfectly.

Upgrade your device

If all else fails, maybe it’s time to just upgrade your device. Amazon Fire Sticks, whilst the most popular devices are arguably the worst by a long mile. This is due to it’s very low price tag at $40. It’s not a great piece of hardware and doesn’t do an amazing job of running Kodi.

Upgrading to a better Kodi device will have much better hardware, including more memory and CPU resources. This will ultimately reduce buffering issues for good. These upgraded devices also have an ethernet port on the back, allowing a direct connection to your router which will massively improve internet speeds and make streams load faster, reduce buffering and improve quality by a lot.

If you’re looking to upgrade to a better Kodi device, my two recommendations are the Fire TV Box, which is just a heavily upgrades Fire Stick. Or the NVIDIA Shield which is on the more expensive end. Nvidia shield would be my go to device as it also supports gaming and has a large app store.

Original founder of PwrDown. I’m a huge Movie and TV enthusiast, with a lot of interest in the Kodi platform. I’m also an avid gamer, enjoying games such as Fallout 4, League of Legends and other immersive simulation games such as Euro Truck Simulator and Cities Skylines!